TDC aware of issues for weeks
The Timaru District Council was aware of issues with one of its buildings, later found to not meet new building standards, more than three weeks ago.
A recently-released report to the council identified ‘‘critical weaknesses’’ in two buildings - the Aigantighe Art Gallery’s homestead, and the Sophia St car park building.
Tenants in the Sophia St car park building, across the road from St Mary’s Church, were informed of initial indications about the assessment more than three weeks ago, the council has confirmed.
Signs have since been posted at the building, informing the public that it was deemed earthquake prone and to enter at their own risk.
However, a councillor and council manager both say the building is still safe, despite not allowing council staff and contractors to enter.
It follows the sudden closure of the Aigantighe homestead and the Sophia St toilets on Tuesday afternoon as a precautionary measure to protect staff and visitors pending a further detailed report. Council corporate services group manager Tina Rogers said tenants were given early indications there were issues associated with the building in ‘‘good faith’’.
While tenants, including Vero Insurance, were informed, the council was unable to make a decision about what to do next until it had a finalised report, she said. The council chose not close the car park because it wanted to give people a choice to use it and remain as tenants in the building. ’’Just because it’s earthquake prone, doesn’t meant that it is unsafe.’’
When asked why the council did not close the building completely and if the council had a responsibility to protect the public, Rogers said it was not a requirement under the Building Act to close it. ’’It’s not an unsafe building and people are free to make their own decisions.’’
Staff would not be checking the pay and display machine inside the building, she said.
The council was carrying out a series of assessments on pre-1976 buildings, including the Timaru Library, the airport terminal, and at least another ‘‘half a dozen’’.
A Vero Insurance spokesman said in an emailed response two employees had vacated the Sophia St building on February 28 as soon as it was informed by the council about the preliminary structural assessment report. ‘‘The safety of our people is a priority, and we will not be reoccupying the office.’’
Fellow tenant, registered surveyor Bruce Speirs, said he was waiting for a further detailed report to ‘‘quantify’’ the report and would stay in the building. ‘‘To be honest, most of Timaru is like that.’’
Councillor and chairman of the policy and development committee Peter Burt said councillors were comfortable with closing the toilets while allowing the building to remain open. Everyone should understand the distinction between a structurally unsound building, ‘‘and one [that] has a rating that tells us that it’s earthquake prone’’, Burt said.
The building was not unsafe, he said. The new rating informed the council how buildings would perform in an earthquake, he said. Councillors discussed the report outlining issues with the building at a closed-door session of the policy and development committee on Tuesday.
The report said the Aigantighe homestead was rated at 10 per cent of the new building standard. The Sophia St car park building was rated at five per cent. Both were deemed earthquake-prone as a result. Timaru District Mayor Damon Odey did not return a request for comment.